Isolated from the Vote: The Relationship Between the Mental Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Voter Turnout in the 2020 Presidential Election
Open Access
Author:
Clancy, Catherine
Area of Honors:
Political Science
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Eric Plutzer, Thesis Supervisor Sona N. Golder, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
voting voting turnout mental health loneliness covid-19
Abstract:
This thesis examined the impact of COVID-19 related mental health on voter turnout in the 2020 presidential election. Using the Bradburn Scale of Psychological Well-being and an altered version of the UCLA Three Factor Loneliness Scale, the Covid Response Tracking Survey data collected by NORC at the University of Chicago was analyzed. It was found that mental health had a significant impact on voter turnout when studied in isolation. Increased levels of psychological well-being were found to correlate with increased voter turnout, and increased levels of loneliness were found to correlate with decreased voter turnout. The addition of control variables caused mental health’s effect on turnout to cease statistical significance. This thesis theorizes that this relationship is due to the cross-cutting nature of age and COVID-19 related mental health.
